There were a series of Allen & Ginter-related contests over at Bubba's Bangin' Batch of Baseball Bits to celebrate the arrival of the new set, and I won one of them. For my prize I chose a complete base set of 2015 Allen & Ginter. Along with the base set, Matt included a short-printed mini of R.A. Dickey from last year's set. Who knows if I already have this card? I sure don't know as I am way behind on cataloging my collection, so as far as I can tell it's new to me!
Since I had all of the cards in the set sitting in a box right in front of me, I was able to flip through is and see what all there was to see. LaTroy Hawkins looks like he wants to start a relationship with that baseball in his hand. I've talked plenty about Jon Singleton on this blog, as he is the main guy whose cards I've been chasing lately. Max Scherzer's close-ups are always striking because of his different-colored eyes. And Billy 'Country Breakfast' Butler is another favorite slugger of mine, although he hasn't been doing a lot of slugging since his All-Star 2012 season. It'll be interesting to see what the A's do with him after 2015.
Mr. T aka B.A. Baracus aka Clubber Lang makes an appearance in the set since the Rocky films are featured as a big component in the product this year. I have to admit that I may have seen part or all of the first Rocky movie, but I know I haven't seen any of the others. Maybe I am missing out? I don't know. A couple of other PC guys make it into this group, R.A. Dickey and Josh Reddick, who gace up his jersey number to Billy Butler after the move that brought Butler to Oakland. Both players are featured pretty heavily in this editorial piece on why it's good that the A's will not make the playoffs this season WARNING: THE HEADLINE PHOTO IS A PICTURE OF BILLY BUTLER THAT BRINGS THE TRUFFLE SHUFFLE TO MIND. And last in the group is Jose Altuve, who is one of the key guys on a team that is trending strongly in the right direction, if they could just give their pitchers some run support every once in a while. They lost one to the Yankees tonight after sweeping the Dodgers over the weekend, a set that included a no-hitter thrown by trade deadline acquisition Mike Fiers.
I liked Derek Norris a lot as an A, but when he went to the Padres he did what players who go to the Padres do: he disappeared. That's not really true. He's put together some pretty good numbers again this year. Hulk Hogan as Thunderlips had to make this post, although he has been weathering some self-inflicted negative press lately. He said some racist things on a video that was leaked, and I hope that he has changed his mind since the video was made or maybe that the camera just caught him during a really low point in his life. The Hulkster was a figure that loomed large over the world I grew up in that Hulkamania is woven into who I am. Hyun-Jin Ryu gets into the post because I like him. It seems like every card he's on features this same pose. I wonder if the photographers set it up, or if it's his default pose for getting his picture taken? Like maybe the photographers are like, 'Hey, maybe we should mix it up a little this time,' but he just stubbornly stands in that pose until they give up and take the picture. Some people do look the same in every picture. There's even 'documented' 'proof' of it on the internet.
George Springer is injured, but the Astros are hoping that he comes back and helps them boost their offense a bit for the race to the playoffs.
Jose Bautista is a key component on the Blue Jays offense, which is a machine built solely for destroying baseballs by knocking them into low orbit. I think they've scored like 850 runs in their last ten games, with back-to-back-to-back-to-back grand slams which are technically impossible but the balls travel so far and stay in the air for so long that four batters can come up to the plate and run around the bases before they land. Can you imagine this roster playing full-time in Colorado? Hunter Pence gets included for making a Ryan Braun face. He doesn't just see the baseball, he sees the baseball's soul and finds it wanting. Ichiro just looks weird in a Miami uniform. He belongs in a Mariners or (I can't believe I'm typing this) Yankees uniform. Evan Gattis is my current favorite Astro, even though he played for the Braves at one point.
Dallas Keuchel is the Astros' ace pitcher, although I think Scott Kazmir and company would argue that point. It's a good problem for the team to have. Val Kilmer was pretty huge in the 80's and 90's, and his portrayal of Doc Holliday in Tombstone is one of my favorite performances of all time, but it seems like it's been a long time since he was super relevant. Topps did a good job including Malala Yousafzai in the set, as she has done a lot to promote education opportunities for youth and women in the world after gunmen attempted to end her life. There are many political figures who stand for controversial causes and might not be good choices for a card set, but it is hard to advocate convincingly against the right to pursue an education. Closing out this post is Josh Donaldson, who is another key component in that powerful Blue Jays offense.
Thank you for the cool price, Matt! I was super excited to get the full Allen & Ginter set, even if you did send me one of those dang Card Savers!
